ONS: 31 August 2017

AFRICA: Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari chaired his first cabinet meeting since returning from sick leave in Britain this month.

AMERICAS: Tropical Depression Harvey made its second landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border, dumping record rains and spurring additional flooding in small cities east of Houston.

ASIA: British PM Theresa May sought to reassure Japanese business leaders about Brexit, saying she is laying the foundation to take the bilateral trade and investment relationship to “a whole new level.”

EUROPE: In Turkey, six people were wounded when an explosion occurred in the western city of Izmir during the passage of a prison vehicle.

MIDDLE EAST: In Saudi Arabia, around 2M Muslims gathered near Mecca for the peak of the hajj pilgrimage.

TECHNOLOGY: A US House committee canceled a planned hearing on 07SEP on the future of internet access rules after no companies publicly committed to appearing.

TOP STORY

North Korea: International community continues to seek solutions to crisis.

Four US F-35B fighter jets joined two US B-1B bombers and four South Korean F-15 fighter jets in the joint US-South Korean flyover of the Korean Peninsula.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis said the US is “never out of diplomatic solutions” in dealing with North Korea.

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov warned US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that any new sanctions against North Korea would be “dangerous.”

Japan’s Defense Ministry asked for a record-high budget for fiscal year 2018 to bolster missile defense against North Korea’s escalating threats.

Military action against the North could halt the flow of crude oil imports to South Korea, Japan and China, which together account for 34 percent of seaborne oil trade globally, experts say.

Algeria: An Algerian policeman was killed when he threw himself on a suicide bomber when the attacker tried to enter police headquarters in Tiaret. (AFP)

Nigeria: President Muhammadu Buhari chaired his first cabinet meeting since returning from sick leave in Britain this month. (Reuters)

Somalia: Government officials announced that ten men and boys killed in a joint US-Somali raid were civilians and that blood money will be paid to the families. (Reuters)

AMERICAS

Region: Mexican FM Luis Videgaray said Mexico would leave the negotiating table if US President Donald Trump were to withdraw the US from the North American Free Trade Agreement. (WSJ)

Mexico: Seven people have been murdered in the beach resort of Acapulco as the city continues to grapple with a violent crime wave. (AP)

United States: Tropical Depression Harvey made its second landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border, dumping record rains and spurring additional flooding in small Texas cities east of Houston. (WP)

United States: US District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio temporarily blocked parts of a Texas immigration law that would have outlawed sanctuary cities. (WP)

Venezuela: Ratings agency Fitch lowered the country’s rating to “CC,” amid concerns its default risk has increased after new US financial sanctions. (AFP)

ASIA

Region: Bangladesh border guards recovered the bodies of 20 Rohingya women and children whose boat capsized, as they fled violence in Myanmar. (Reuters)

India: A building collapsed during heavy rainfall in Mumbai, killing at least seven people and injuring 15. (NYT)

Japan: British PM Theresa May sought to reassure Japanese business leaders about Brexit, saying she is laying the foundation to take the bilateral trade and investment relationship to “a whole new level.” (AP)

Malaysia: The country celebrated the 60th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule in the capital Kuala Lumpur. (EFE)

Vietnam: Some 4,500 dengue fever cases were detected in the central Da Nang city in the first eight months of 2017, nearly doubling compared to 2016. (Xinhua)

EUROPE

Region: Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will join the board of directors of Russian oil giant Rosneft, a heavily criticized move ahead of Germany’s election. (AP)

France: Hamou Benlatreche, a 36-year-old Algerian, was charged for ramming a car into soldiers outside a barracks in an upmarket western suburb of Paris. (AFP)

Poland: European Commission deputy head Frans Timmermans said the country has proposed no measures to address concerns over the rule of law. (Reuters)

Spain: US warned the country that the Islamic State group was planning an attack in Barcelona, where the jihadists claimed a deadly van rampage earlier this month. (AFP)

Turkey: Six people were wounded when an explosion occurred in the western city of Izmir during the passage of a prison vehicle. (Xinhua)

MIDDLE EAST

Region: Lebanon’s Hezbollah received the body of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard member recently captured and killed by the Islamic State group. (AP)

Region: Israeli forces shut down a Palestinian radio station in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and arrested a popular wedding band over charges of “incitement to terrorism.” (Xinhua)

Iran: Hundreds of Iranians attended the funeral of Ebrahim Yazdi, one of the country’s most influential dissident politicians. (AP)

Saudi Arabia: Around 2M Muslims gathered near Mecca for the peak of the hajj pilgrimage. (AP)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Communications: A US House committee canceled a planned hearing on 07SEP on the future of internet access rules after no companies publicly committed to appearing. (Reuters)